U. Perkiomen Teachers, Board Approve 3-year Pact

The Upper Perkiomen School Board unanimously approved a contract last night that will give the district's teachers increases of 3, 3.5 and 3.5 percent during the three-year pact.

The teachers union, which has never called a strike, approved the contract yesterday afternoon.

Assistant Superintendent George Bonekemper, the official spokesman for the board, said the agreement was good for everyone involved.

"We think it's good for the students to continue their education program without interruption," Bonekemper said. "It's good for the staff and good for the taxpayers because it reflects a cost-of-living increase."

The two sides met five times before they were able to reach a tentative agreement during a five-hour session April 6 with state-appointed mediator Jill Leeds-Rivera, Bonekemper said.

The district's budget for teachers salaries will increase $409,322 in the first year of the pact, $472,358 in the second and $482,815 in the final year, Bonekemper said.

The minimum salary for this year was $27,365 and will rise to $27,373 next year, he said. The maximum salary was $58,988 this school year and will go to $60,821 next year.

He said the district's budget for next year, which will be released May 6, would probably call for a tax increase, but mostly because of cuts in state funding for programs like special education.

"We expect a minimal tax increase," he said.

The total salary budget will increase by $1.3 million over the three-year contract.

James Yenser, spokesman for the 187-member Upper Perkiomen Education Association, was unavailable for comment last night.

The contract, which begins in September, includes annual salary increases of 1.3 percent for teachers who are not at the top of the pay scale, he said.

Teachers pay for extracurricular activities will increase at the same percentage as the salaries.

The district will save $36,588 in next year's budget because the deductible in the teachers major medical plan is increasing from $100 to $250, he said.

In another change in insurance, teachers will be allowed to opt out of the district's health insurance program if their spouses are covered elsewhere. The teachers will get -1/2 of the district's individual insurance premium -- about $950 -- and the district will save about $3,500 per employee who selects the option, Bonekemper said.

"We don't think many people will take it, maybe a half dozen," he said.

Life insurance coverage will remain at $45,000 for the first two years of the contract and then increase to $50,000, which will cost the district about $2,000 that year, Bonekemper said.

Bonekemper said Act 88, which sets a schedule for contract talks, helped the two sides reach an agreement.

"With fact-finding hanging over our heads on April 11, we were happy to get an agreement on April 6," he said. "Both sides were happy to avoid fact-finding."

In fact-finding, each side must present its arguement for salary increases and benefits changes to a mediator, who then decides what is fair by looking at the contracts of surrounding school districts.